I Don’t Do Politics -Amakye Dede Fires Back
Legend of highlife music, Abrantie Amakye Dede, has expressed worry over recent discussions in the media linking him to partisan politics.
“I woke up in the morning and all the newspaper reviews are saying I have declared my support for the New Patriotic Party simply because I performed on stage during the party's rally at Agogo.
“If my singing for the NPP during their campaign means I am declaring my support for them, then it means the person who rented the stage for the party, the journalist who covered the campaign and reported, the owner of the bus that drove the people there are all NPP. I am a professional and perform for all parties that can pay for my services but it does not mean I am a politician,” Amakye Dede told NEWS-ONE.
The musician reiterated that the recent incident was not the first time he is being linked to a political party after his public appearance with a politician.
“There was a time I took photos with former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and when the photos went public, some people started saying I was campaigning for the NDC. This time, some other people are saying I am NPP.
I have not and I would not declare for any political party as long as I remain in active music business. I have seen parties come and go but my career is still growing because I do not do politics so I don't have political enemies,” Amakye Dede added.
He belongs to a category of musicians gradually becoming extinct in Ghana. His class of performing with a live highlife band is fading out, as most contemporary musicians lazily opt for instrumentation engineered from studios and laced with digital voice effects.
Key players in the Ghanaian music industry have been bending over backwards to salvage the Abrantie Amakye Dede type of music, but that efforts seem to have been an exercise in futility.
Amakye Dede started singing in 1973 with the Kumapim Royals, led by the late Akwasi Ampofo Agyei. Interestingly, he is still doing new songs.
In 2010, Amakye Dede became headline news when he performed non-stop for a little over six hours at the 'Abrantie Amakye Dede Live In Concert', a show he said was his best that year.
In 1980, Amakye Dede formed the Apollo High Kings and has over 25 all-time hit albums to his credit. He is best known for some of his best hits, including 'Daba Dabi Ebe Ye Yie', 'Sokoo Na Mmaa Pe', 'Iron Boy', 'Seniwa', 'Brebrebe Yi', among others.
He has some 20 albums to his credit.